Branching Out - Creating Connections to End Sexual Violence

BRANCHING OUT

Creating Connections to End Sexual Violence

Spring 2008 Volume 2, Issue 1

Join Us For Our 5th Annual
Take Back the Night

By Terri DeWalt

Hello fellow community members!

As some of you may know, April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). In honor of SAAM,
Sexual Assault Services will be holding our 5th Annual Take Back the Night. The event will be on
Thursday April 3rd from 6:00 -8:00 p.m. at the DeKoven Center's Great Hall (600 21st Street
Racine, WI 53403).

Although this is the 5th year SAS is holding a Take Back the Night, there may be some of you who
have never joined us; and to those people, | want to extend a special invitation to attend this year.
A Take Back the Night provides the opportunity for sexual assault survivors, other community
members and professionals to discuss the impact sexual violence has on our community and to help unite us in our efforts
to end sexual violence in Racine County.

For those who may have never attended one, a Take Back the Night (TBTN) is an internationally recognized event that
honors and supports survivors of sexual violence. The term "Take Back the Night" came from the title of a 1977 memorial
read by activist and publisher Anne Pride at an anti-violence rally in Pittsburgh. And although the first known Take Back
the Night in the world was held in Belgium, the first TBTN in the United States was organized in San Francisco, California
on November 4, 1978.

The word “nigh? was originally meant to symbolize the fear many people feel while walking alone at the night, and “Take
Back the Night” began as a way to speak out against the violence that occurs in our communities. TBTN has grown from
an event that only took place in major cities to one that now happens in communities
of all sizes, large and small, as well as on many college campuses. Inside This Issue

Everyone is invited to attend this free and family-friendly event. Activities will include
food and refreshments, art displays, the Clothesline Project, a candle-lit vigil, a speak- | New Staff &
out against sexual violence and craft projects. We are also lucky enough to have Face to Face...
three wonderful speakers: Mike Williams, the Director of the Living Free Program at
the Kenosha County Detention Center will be joining us for the evening. In addition we | Suggested Reading &

are honored to have a Survivor and Activist share her story of courage with us. Last, [Legislative Update...Page 3
but not least, Dave Walsh, the past Chief of Police for the City of Burlington, and cur-
rent Police Chief of the Appleton Police Department, will be making the trip back to Quarterly Stats &

Racine County to share his thoughts on ending sexual violence in our community. Helping Hand........... Page 4

If you want to make a contribution to help support our TBTN, volunteer at the event, or :
just want to learn more about TBTN, please feel free to call us at 262-619-1634 or Western Racine
email me at tdewalt@Isswis.org. | look forward to seeing you there! =§-_——— FROUIILY..sseeecerscscsrsesrers

— Terrt

Face
To
Face

By Lora Schultz Reinders

| remember a day while | was in college (not too long ago), groaning
when looking at the book that was the reading assignment for that
week. It was a book written in the 70’s called “Blaming the Victim”
written by William Ryan. | remember thinking while looking at the
yellowed book: “What could something written in the 70’s possibly
have to say to me now? Shouldn't we be reading new research,
things relevant to today?” The book’s main focus was on poverty and
racial relations, and to be honest, | don’t remember much of its con-
tent, but since beginning my work with sexual abuse and assault vic-
tims, the title of the book has resounded in my mind on more than a
few occasions. It is apparent to me that we still have a long way to go
to decrease our victim blaming.

To start out, let’s take a look at this word: victim. It does not have a
very positive connotation. We do not like people who “play the victim.”
Sometimes when people complain too much we may want to tell them
to “stop being a victim.” In reality a victim is someone who had some-
thing done TO them, something they did not ask for. Do we always
look at victims as innocent?

In my personal work with victims, usually through psychotherapy ses-
sions, many victims report feeling uneasy by the things family mem-
bers and others say to them. They may not use the word — that they
felt blamed, but it seems they often indicate receiving subtle (or not so
subtle) messages that they are not blameless.

| sometimes wonder if victims of other crimes feel this way, or if it is
something unique to this very personal crime of sexual assault. Sex-
ual abuse and assault is often a crime of coercion and manipulation,
and is only sometimes violent. This can lead to confusion for the vic-
tim as well as for those trying to help the victim. Victims are often
saying to themselves “how could | have been so stupid,” “how did | get
myself into this,” or “if only | had/n’t...” This is a normal process for
victims, but the truth is, no matter what kind of risky behavior some-
one may have been engaging in, what kind of lies they may have
fallen for, or what kind of naive trust they put in someone, only one
person is responsible for committing a sexual crime and that is the
perpetrator. When a child is the victim, their behavior and choices do
not need to be questioned to find out who is to blame, because they
cannot make sexual consent choices. When an adult victim is in-
volved, if consent was not given, a crime has been committed. We
may wonder: “why didn’t you...” but this does not change the respon-
sibility of the person who chose to violate someone else’s rights.

The response of those receiving the first disclosures is very important
in the resulting level of trauma the victim experiences. In fact, it is
important to understand the person’s disclosure experience, including
the reactions of the individuals the victim first told about the abuse or
assault, and in my opinion it is just as important to understand their

disclosure experience as it is to understand what they went through
when being abused or assaulted.

It matters what we say to victims! Every victim, every time deserves
to receive the message from those around them that they are not to
blame for being the victim of a sexual crime.

— Lora

SAS Wish List

Volunteer Advocates!

Gift cards/certificates from Target, Office Depot or other
discount stores

Courage to Heal book series

New clothes for victims at the hospital (t-shirts, sweat
pants, underwear, etc.)

Gift bags filled with body lotions & shower gels to be
given to victims at the hospital

General art and craft supplies

Meet
Lynn!

Hi, my name is Lynn Cook and | am the new Preven-
tion Educator! | am currently a graduate student at
the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee studying social
work. | have a background in working with children
and adolescents and | spent the last three years with
the Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh. While in Osh-
kosh | obtained my Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work,
but | am originally from Madison. Thanks for the
warm welcome so far and | am really looking forward
to learning and growing with this organization!

Call For Suomisstons...

If you are a survivor or you know
a survivor who would like to sub-
mit a poem, short story, artwork or

editorial for publication in this s/
newsletter, please email it to
Samantha Sustachek (ssustachek @|sswis.org).

Legislative
Update
Corner

By Vicki Biehn

| am pleased to announce that as of this writing it looks like two more
important bills for sexual assault survivors will be passed by the end of
this legislative session on March 13. The only issue right now is that
the legislative session is running short on time to get both bills passed
in the full senate and assembly.

The first bill is SB 292 (senate bill) and AB 544 (assembly bill). Basi-
cally this bill will make human trafficking a crime in the state of Wis-
consin. It is estimated that there are 800,000 to 900,000 human traf-
ficking victims a year worldwide and about 18,000 to 20,000 of those
are victims trafficked into the United States each year. Human traf-
ficking is the third largest and growing criminal industry in the world.
The federal government has anti-human trafficking laws, but only 24
states have added this type of legislation so far. It is important to add
anti-human trafficking laws to the Wisconsin state statutes because
the U.S. Attorney’s office does not have the resources to prosecute
every trafficker under the federal statutes, and as a result many hu-
man trafficking cases are not prosecuted.

The second bill is SB269 and AB 520, which is a bill that changes the
housing laws in Wisconsin in order to be more supportive of sexual
assault, domestic violence and stalking victims. This bill allows these
victims to break their leases without any extreme financial hardship,
and to ensure that leases which restrict access to certain services are
void and unenforceable. So what does that mean? Basically this bill
allows victims to break a lease if they are in imminent threat of physi-
cal harm and that a landlord cannot restrict them from calling the po-
lice or medical emergency personnel when needed. Many victims of
these types of crime are victimized in their own home or building
which makes it difficult for them to be safe and to feel safe. This bill
has already passed the senate but was amended in the assembly and
therefore needs to go back to the senate for a full senate vote on the
amended version and then signed by Governor Doyle.

The 2007/2008 Wisconsin legislative session has been a productive
and important one for sexual assault survivors. The legislature
passed the compassionate care for rape victims, secured money for
SAFE funding, drafted anti-human trafficking laws, and made housing
laws that are more supportive to victims of sexual assault, domestic
violence, and stalking. It is wonderful to see such progress within the
legislature for addressing sexual assault victims and their needs. The
legislature session ends on March 13, so for upcoming legislative
updates | will be explaining to our readers how to keep an eye on the
Wisconsin legislature and what are the goals for next year’s session.

— Vickt

Suggested Reading On
Sexual Assault Issues

For Adult Sexual Assault Survivors:
| am the Central Park Jogger: A story of hope and possibility
by Trisha Meili

For Adults Molested as Children:

The Courage to Heal
by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis

The Courage to Heal Workbook
by Laura Davis

Voices of Courage: Inspiration from Survivors
by Mike Domitrz

For Adolescents and Young Adults:
Strong at the Heart: how it feels to heal from sexual abuse
by Carolyn Lehman

For Caregivers of Sexually Abused Children:
What Only a Mother Can Tell you about Child Sexual Abuse
by Karen Schaefer

For Males Who Are Supporting a Female Survivor:
If She is Raped
by Alan W. McEvoy

For General Risk Reduction:
May | Kiss You: A candid look at dating, communication, re-
spect and sexual assault awareness
by Mike Domitrz
The Gift of Fear
by Gavin DeBecker
Protecting the Gift
by Gavin DeBecker

For Parents Talking to Kids About Sex/Sexual Abuse:
A Very Touching Book
by Jan Hindman
My Body is Private
by Linda Walvoord Girard
Body Parts: Amazing You
by Dr. Gail Saltz
What's the Big Secret-Talking About Sex with Girls and Boys
by Laurie Krasny Brown
There is No Sex Fairy: The Ten Commandments of Raising
Sexually Respectful Children
by Jan Hindman

Cont’d. on pg. 4

Helping
Hands

By Samantha Sustachek

Volunteers are without a doubt the heart of the Sexual Assault Ser-
vices (SAS) program. Without them, SAS would not have 24-hour
crisis line coverage and hospital response. But what type of person
makes a good volunteer? And how do you turn an individual inter-
ested in the program into a Volunteer Advocate? In this issue of
Branching Out, “Helping Hands’ will attempt to answer those ques-
tions.

Good SAS volunteers can be found almost anywhere. Current volun-
teers are at all stages of their lives — from college students to working
professionals to retired seniors. Because the SAS volunteer program
is so flexible, most people find that they can fit it into even the busiest
of schedules. We at SAS believe that almost any person with a desire
to do this type of volunteer work will have the ability to be a good vol-
unteer. People who are compassionate, non-judgmental, good listen-
ers make outstanding Volunteer Advocates.

Unfortunately, being a compassionate person does not mean that
someone is ready to start answering calls on the crisis line. All SAS
volunteers go through a 15-hour training, during which they
strengthen the skills they already possess, as well as gain some addi-
tional knowledge about sexual assault issues and survivor dynamics.
Trainings are broken down into smaller sessions and usually take
place over the course of several evenings.

During a typical four evening training, the first evening is used to help
new volunteers get to know each other and become comfortable par-
ticipating in the group. The volunteers are familiarized with the SAS
program, learn about the different types of sexual assault, and discuss
sexual assault prevention. The second evening is spent going over
confidentiality issues, the Crime Victim Compensation program, and
diversity. During the third session, volunteers tour the hospital and
see the forensic exam room, learn about suicide and self-injury, and
get an overview of resources available to the Racine community. On
the last night, new volunteers learn about technical issues like operat-
ing the crisis line phone and signing up for on call shifts. On this eve-
ning, they also participate in a powerful activity called “Walking the
Walk.” During the activity, they play the role of a sexual assault survi-
vor and discover how it feels to navigate through community systems
and interact with peers following an assault. As volunteers proceed
through all of these lessons, they also learn good communication
skills, the importance of their roles, and how to take care of them-
selves as they begin to work with survivors.

As of the publication date of this newsletter, SAS has just completed a
four-week training for new Volunteer Advocates. Nine compassion-
ate, supportive individuals have fine-tuned their skills, learned some
new ones, and are now ready to start answering the crisis line and

responding to the hospital. We are pleased to count them among our
group of exceptional, committed Volunteer Advocates.

SAS conducts three to four volunteer trainings every year, so for those
who just missed out this time around, another training is right around
the corner. If you have questions about the volunteer program or
know someone who might make a good volunteer, please contact
Samantha Sustachek (ssustachek @|sswis.org). Volunteer Advocacy
is not always easy, but SAS is thrilled that so many members of the
Racine community are willing to give it a try!

— Sam

Suggested Reading...cont’d. from pg. 3

About Sexual Offenders:
Predators, Pedophiles, Rapists, and other Sex Offenders: Who
they are, how they operate, and how we can protect ourselves
and our children

by Anna Salter
Identifying Child Molesters: Preventing Child Sexual Abuse by
Recognizing the Patterns of Offenders

by Carla Van Dam

Novels:

Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
(a teenager is sexually assaulted the summer before
9th grade)

Lucky
by Alice Sebold
(a true story about a woman who was raped at her
college)

Novels that inform the reader about sex offenders and
their patterns:

Shiny Waters, Fault Lines, White Lies, Prison Blues, and Truth
Catcher

by Anna Salter

SAS First Quarter Statistics
January—March 2008*

Crigis Lite Callls,,......scccscsssesesscsssesersesscesessesers 40
Racine Hospital Visits...........ccscsscscsccscsseseeeeeO
Burlington Hospital Visits............csccscseseeeO
Legal Advocacy Sessions..........csssscsscssseereed
New Counseling Clients...........cccccssssssseseoel®
Counseling Sessions...........cccccsescscesesesee 149

Community Presentations.............cecccseseeelD
* As of publication date

Western Racine
County Corner

By Vicki Biehn

When you think of a “typical” rape or sexual assault scenario what is
the first thought that comes to your mind? Many people think of the
stereotypical scenario of a woman on the streets of a city who is
beaten and raped by a stranger. Although rare, this type of sexual
violence does happen. However this is only one type of sexual vio-
lence that happens in our country. The stereotyped belief that rape
happens most often by strangers in the city impacts our society's be-
lief about where sexual violence occurs. Most people tend to believe
that sexual violence occurs at much higher rates in urban areas as
compared to rural areas. | believe that it is important to address this
stereotype about rape because if we believe that sexual violence
doesn’t happen as often in rural areas, one is less likely to believe
rural survivors and they may be less likely to receive the necessary
services they deserve.

| would like to share some information from Dr. Susan H. Lewis of The
National Sexual Violence Resource Center. In 2003, Dr. Lewis wrote
a pamphlet titled Unspoken Crimes: Sexual Assault in Rural America
that shared information from a variety of studies that researched and
compared sexual violence in rural and urban areas. This pamphlet
covered many aspects of sexual violence including barriers to report-
ing sexual crimes, challenges for sexual assault services providers in
rural areas, and the prevalence of sexual violence in rural areas. |
would like to share with you what the studies discovered about the
prevalence of sexual violence in rural versus urban areas.

This pamphlet reported that crime in general is more prevalent in ur-
ban areas versus rural areas for a variety of reasons, including higher
population density, more ethnic diversity, higher residential mobility,
and poverty. She also reports that some of the conditions associated
with crime are actually higher in rural areas, such as poverty and un-
employment. She reviews four different studies that address rural
sexual violence in the states of Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Alaska and
Mississippi. Although one cannot generalize to the whole United
States from these four states, the studies showed that sexual violence
could be as high or higher in rural regions as it is in urban areas.

In the research from Pennsylvania they found that, although the abso-
lute numbers for sexual violence is greater in the urban areas, the
rates of sexual violence for adult victims and child victims was actually
higher in the rural areas. A review of the data found that the eight
highest rates of forcible adult rapes per capita from July 2001 to June
2002 were from rural counties. Furthermore, these rates exceeded
those of all urban counties and included the three most rural counties
in the state. A study that used data collected from the Pennsylvania
Office of Children, Youth and Families found that rural counties had
higher rates of sexual assault than the urban counties.

In the state of Oklahoma there are 77 rural counties and only 3 coun-
ties that are considered urban. The researchers found that there were
more than a dozen rural counties that had a sexual assault rate higher
than the state average. They also found that it was difficult to see if

the rural counties had higher or lower rates of sexual assault because
even small fluctuations in reporting sexual violence greatly impacted
whether a county was on the low or high end of sexual assault rates.

The Mississippi study also found that many of the 71 rural counties
reported higher rates of sexual assault and in fact, the most rural
county had the second highest rate of sexual assault in the state. The
researchers felt that some of this was related to the fact that there was
good reporting in that county due to some programs that were imple-
mented in that county by the sexual assault service provider.

Alaska is the largest state in the nation and about 90% of Alaska can-
not be reached by a road system. Over the past two decades the FBI
has ranked Alaska with the highest rate of rape 2/3’s of the time. This
is an alarming statistic because this rate only reflects the Uniform
Crime Report, which narrowly defines rape, and is not inclusive of all
forms of sexual violence and victims. In 1999 the Rate of Rape per
100,000 residents in the nation was 32.7 and in Alaska it was 83.5. If
one just calculates it per 100,000 female residents, Alaska had a rape
rate of 173 in 1999. The researchers also found that the most rural
areas had the highest rate of sexual assault in the state of Alaska.

These studies demonstrate that not only does sexual violence occur
in both urban and rural areas of our nation; it appears that rural areas
can have just as high or even higher rates of sexual assault as urban
areas. This knowledge is important for a variety of reasons. First of
all, it is important to acknowledge that sexual violence does happen in
all of Racine County, and knowing this reminds us that it is important
to support and provide the necessary services to survivors of sexual
violence and their family members regardless of what part of the
county they reside in.

Youre Invited!
5" Kwnual
Take Baek the Night

Racine’s 5 Annual Take Back the Night
will be held on this year’s National Day to
End Sexual Violence: Thursday, April 34
2008. The event will be held from 6:00-
8:00 p.m. in DeKoven Center’s Great
Hall.

The event will include speakers (featuring

Mike Williams, the Director of the Living

Free Program at the Kenosha County

Detention Center; Dave Walsh, the for-

mer Police Chief of Burlington and cur-

rent Police Chief in Appleton; and a survi-

vor of sexual violence), an open mic speak-out, a candle-lit vigil
and march, The Clothesline Project, food, drinks and other
activities.

Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend this free commu-
nity event. So mark your calendars now and show your support
as we work to end sexual violence in our community!

VOVES I/\ ‘eUulDDY
VOE SyNs “any puno~| OZZI
SadINJaS JNDssy jONxas

Contact Us!
SAS Racine Office SAS Burlington Office
1220 Mound Ave. Suite 304 480 S. Pine St.
Racine, WI 53404 Burlington, WI 53105
262-619-1634 262-763-6226 Ext. 31

24 Hour Crisis Line: 262-637-SAFE (7233)
Stay Connected!

Join our News and Events email update list! Would you like to receive in-
formation on upcoming SAS events and volunteer opportunities? Email
Samantha Sustachek at ssustachek@lsswis.org with “SAS news and events”
in the subject line and she will include you in all SAS news and events re-

lated emails.

Sexual Assault Services seeks to create a safe and compassionate environment
to helo promote the healing of sexual assault survivors and their support people.